Comment & Opinion

How monetization got smart in 2014 and will get smarter in 2015

Yeah Mobile looks back and forward

How monetization got smart in 2014 and will get smarter in 2015

2014 is reaching its end and it's been a year which has witnessed many creative developments in app monetization and marketing.

2014 saw marketing using smarter ways to integrate ads in-app, and better ways for app developers to monetize F2P games and other free apps.

For example, called "mobile native ads" (similarly called 'good ads' by Eric Benjamin Seufert), ads that are designed to integrate seamlessly with app interfaces offer users a new experience.

The new ad formats that marketers developed - breaking away from traditional banner ads - were arguably the largest change to app monetization in 2014.

But where will mobile ads go in 2015?

The future

A problem many app developers face is having users, but struggling to optimize monetization.

Users dismiss the ads that developers place, and a poor ad monetization experience impacts negatively on users' opinion of the game they play. At the beginning of 2014, traditional mobile banner ads click-through rates were just 0.35% suggesting a lack of engagement by users.

The new methods of placing ads in apps are getting more inventive, and 2015 will see exciting developments.

Companies such as InMobi, NativeX and Appsfire introduced what they called 'mobile native ads' to offer developers better ways to improve user interaction with ads. Solutions include loading page interstitials, drop-down menus and in-stream ad placements.

In 2014, mobile marketers tried to bridge the gap between brand publishing and banner adverts. And they were successful. Seamless SDKs brought convenient integration. User response rates went up – up to 20 times. Level of engagement reached around an average of 45 seconds per ad and marketers offered a 50% increase in purchasing intent.

Marketing platforms used deep learning algorithms to help advertisers get more precise placements. Integrated marketing platforms also offered developers better analytics and valuable user insights and the right ads for their users.

The new methods of placing ads in apps are getting more inventive, and 2015 will see exciting developments.

YeahMobi is offering icon ads for tool apps. This means that app icons can appear on users' phone or tablets, and clicking on the icon will bring the user to a landing page that will allow users to download the promoted app.

Integration is getting easier. Companies offer native ad integration by going to their main page, selecting the ad format and operating system then integrating the code. Developers can also play around with the style of the ads to make it fit better with their app.

Better performance

The new forms of app integration weren't the only exciting thing to come from 2014.

Marketing companies were better in terms of linking services and platforms. For example, YeahMobi offers advertisers performance marketing solutions, search engine and social media solutions, user retargeting and acquisition through programmatic ad placements and now native ad solutions.

Ads can run across iOS, Windows and Android systems, and on devices that use these systems – which can include phone, tablet and smart TV. The metrics on these cross-channel marketing strategies will become far more specific in the near future.

Ad budgets are expected to rise for mobile ads in 2015. The technology to boost and monitor ROI has made huge leaps and will continue to do so. Not only will advertisers get better returns on their campaigns, and more inventive ways to implement marketing strategies, but they will be able to do so from a vantage point that simplifies the targeting variables available.

Cross-platform and multi-channel mobile marketing will finally be in a position to make huge leaps forward in 2015.


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